Detecting orientation of digital images using face detection information

ABSTRACT

A method of automatically establishing the correct orientation of an image using facial information. This method is based on the exploitation of the inherent property of image recognition algorithms in general and face detection in particular, where the recognition is based on criteria that is highly orientation sensitive. By applying a detection algorithm to images in various orientations, or alternatively by rotating the classifiers, and comparing the number of successful faces that are detected in each orientation, one may conclude as to the most likely correct orientation. Such method can be implemented as an automated method or a semi automatic method to guide users in viewing, capturing or printing of images.

PRIORITY

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/482,305, filed Jun. 10, 2009, which is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/024,046, filed Dec. 27, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,565,030, which is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/608,772, filed Jun. 26, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,440,593,hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to automatic suggesting or processing ofenhancements of a digital image using information gained fromidentifying and analyzing faces appearing within the image, and inparticular method of detection the image orientation using facedetection. The invention provides automated orientation detection forphotographs taken and/or images detected, acquired or captured indigital form or converted to digital form, by using information aboutthe faces in the photographs and/or images.

2. Description of the Related Art

Viola and Jones in the paper entitled “Robust Real Time ObjectDetection” as presented in the 2^(nd) international workshop onStatistical and Computational theories of Vision, in Vancouver, Canada,Jul. 31, 2001, describe a visual object detection framework that iscapable of processing images extremely rapidly while achieving highdetection rates. The paper demonstrates this framework by the task offace detection. The technique is based on a learning technique where asmall number of critical visual features yield a set of classifiers.

Yang et al., IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and MachineIntelligence, Vol. 24, No. 1, pages 34-58, give a useful andcomprehensive review of face detection techniques January 2002. Theseauthors discuss various methods of face detection which may be dividedinto four main categories: (i) knowledge-based methods; (ii)feature-invariant approaches, including the identification of facialfeatures, texture and skin color; (iii) template matching methods, bothfixed and deformable and (iv) appearance based methods, includingeigenface techniques, statistical distribution based methods and neuralnetwork approaches. They also discuss a number of the main applicationsfor face detections technology. It is recognized in the presentinvention that none of the prior art describes or suggests usingdetection and knowledge of faces in images to create and/or use toolsfor the enhancement or correction of the images according to theinvention as set forth in the claims below, nor as described in detailbelow as preferred and alternative embodiments.

Balluja, 1997 describes methods of extending the upright, frontaltemplate based face detection system to efficiently handle all in planerotations, this achieving a rotation invariant face detection system.

a. Faces as Subject Matter

It is well known that human faces are the most photographed subjectmatter for the amateur and professional photographer. Thus it ispossible to assume a high starting percentage for algorithms based onthe existence of faces in them.

b. Orientation

The camera is usually held horizontally or vertically, in counterclockwise or clockwise in relations to the horizontal position when thepicture is taken, creating what is referred to as a landscape mode orportrait mode, respectively. Thus most images are taken in either one ofthe three orientations, namely landscape, clockwise portrait andcounterclockwise portrait. When viewing images, it is preferable todetermine ahead of time the orientation of the camera at acquisition,thus eliminating a step of rotating the image and automaticallyorienting the image. The system may try to determine if the image wasshot horizontally, which is also referred to as landscape format, wherethe width is larger than the height of an image, or vertically, alsoreferred to as portrait mode, where the height of the image is largerthan the width. Techniques may be used to determine an orientation of animage. Primarily these techniques include either recording the cameraorientation at an acquisition time using an in camera mechanicalindicator or attempting to analyze image content post-acquisition.In-camera methods, although providing precision, use additional hardwareand sometimes movable hardware components which can increase the priceof the camera and add a potential maintenance challenge. However,post-acquisition analysis may not generally provide sufficientprecision. Knowledge of location, size and orientation of faces in aphotograph, a computerized system can offer powerful automatic tools toenhance and correct such images or to provide options for enhancing andcorrecting images.

c. Face Recognition as a Function of Orientation

It is a well known fact for one familiar in the art of face recognitionthat the human visual system is very sensitive to the orientation of thefaces. As a matter of fact, experiments indicated that the way the humanmind stores faces is different for upright and inverted faces, asdescribed in Endo, 1982. In particular, recognition of inverted faces isknown to be a difficult perceptual task. While the human visual systemperforms well in recognizing different faces, performing the same taskwith inverted faces is significantly worse. Such results are illustratedfor example in Moses, 1994, where face memory and face recognition isdetermined to be highly orientation dependent. A detailed review of facerecognition of inverted faces is available in Valentine, 1988.

It is therefore only natural that artificial intelligence detectionalgorithms based on face related classifiers may have the same featuresof being orientation variant.

d. Image Classifiers for Scene Analysis:

Even though human beings have no problem to interpret imagessemantically, the challenge to do so using artificial intelligence isnot that straight forward. A few methods are available to those familiarin the art of image and pattern recognition that separate images using alearning based descriptor space. Such methods are using a training setand a maximization methods of likelihood. Examples of such methodsincludes the Adatron (1989) method as described by Analauf et. alincorporated herein by reference. Other work includes scene analysissuch as the work by Le Saux Bertrand et al (2004).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above, a method of analyzing and processing a digitalimage using the results of face detection algorithms within said imageto determine the correct orientation of the image is provided.

A face detection algorithm with classifiers that are orientationsensitive, or otherwise referred to as rotation variant, is applied toan image, or a subsampled resolution of an image. The image is thenrotated, or the classifiers are rotated, and the search is repeated forthe orientations that are under question. Based on the results of thedetection, the image with the highest amount of faces detected, and orthe orientation with the highest face detection confidence level, is theone estimated to be the correct orientation of the image.

The digital image may be digitally-acquired and/or may bedigitally-captured. Decisions for processing the digital image based onsaid face detection, selecting one or more parameters and/or foradjusting values of one or more parameters within the digital image maybe automatically, semi-automatically or manually performed.

Values of orientation may be adjusted arbitrarily or in known intervals,e.g., of 90 degrees, such that a rotation value for the digital imagemay be determined.

The method may be performed within a digital acquisition device or anexternal device or a combination thereof. Rotation can also be appliedas part of the transfer process between devices.

The face pixels may be identified, a false indication of another facewithin the image may be removed. The face pixels identifying may beautomatically performed by an image processing apparatus, and a manualverification of a correct detection of at least one face within theimage may be provided.

A method is further provided for detecting an orientation of a digitalimage using statistical classifier techniques. A set of classifiers areapplied to a digital image in a first orientation and a first level ofmatch between the digital image at the first orientation and theclassifiers is determined. The digital image is rotated to a secondorientation, and the classifiers are applied to the rotated digitalimage at the second orientation. A second level of match is determinedbetween the rotated digital image at the second orientation and theclassifiers. The first and second levels of match are compared. It isdetermined which of the first orientation and the second orientationshas a greater probability of being a correct orientation based on whichof the first and second levels of match, respectively, comprises ahigher level of match.

The method may further include rotating the digital image to a thirdorientation, applying the classifiers to the rotated digital image atthe third orientation, and determining a third level of match betweenthe rotated digital image at the third orientation and the classifiers.The third level of match is compared with the first level of match orthe second level of match, or both. It is determined which of two ormore of the first orientation, the second orientation and the thirdorientation has a greater probability of being a correct orientationbased on which of the corresponding levels of match is greater.

A method is also provided for detecting an orientation of a digitalimage using statistical classifier techniques. The method includesapplying a set of classifiers to a digital image in a first orientationand determining a first level of match between the digital image at thefirst orientation and the classifiers. The set of classifiers is rotateda first predetermined amount, the classifiers rotated the first amountare applied to the digital image at the first orientation. A secondlevel of match is determined between the digital image at the firstorientation and the classifiers rotated the first amount. The first andsecond levels of match are compared, and it is determined which of thefirst and second levels of match is greater in order to determinewhether the first orientation is a correct orientation of the digitalimage. A rotation of the classifiers by a second amount may be performedand the method performed with three relatively rotated sets ofclassifiers, and so on.

One or more processor readable storage devices are also provided havingprocessor readable code embodied thereon. The processor readable codeprograms one or more processors to perform any of the methods fordetecting an orientation of a digital image using statistical classifiertechniques briefly summarized above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a is a flow diagram that illustrates a main orientation workflowbased on rotation of a digital image that includes one or more faces.

FIG. 1 b is a flow diagram that illustrates a main orientation workflowbased on rotation of classifiers relative to an orientation of a digitalimage that includes one or more faces.

FIG. 1 c describes an exemplary implementation of the processillustrated at FIG. 1 a and/or FIG. 1 b.

FIG. 2 a illustrates an ellipse-based orientation classifier that may beused in a process in accordance with a preferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 b illustrates an ellipse-based classifier system applied to afacial image.

FIG. 3 a illustrates four different potential orientations of a singleimage.

FIG. 3 b illustrates different orientations of classifiers applied to asame image.

FIG. 4 a illustrates a matching of ellipse-based classifiers withinimages.

FIG. 4 b illustrates a matching of complex classifiers with an image.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

What follows is a cite list of references each of which is, in additionto those references otherwise cited in this application, and that whichis described as background, the invention summary, the abstract, thebrief description of the drawings and the drawings themselves, herebyincorporated by reference into the detailed description of the preferredembodiments below, as disclosing alternative embodiments of elements orfeatures of the preferred embodiments not otherwise set forth in detailbelow. A single one or a combination of two or more of these referencesmay be consulted to obtain a variation of the preferred embodimentsdescribed in the detailed description herein:

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ILLUSTRATIVE DEFINITIONS

“Face Detection” involves the art of detecting faces in a digital image.One or more faces may be first isolated and/or identified within alarger digital image prior to further processing based at least in parton the detection of the faces. Face detection includes a process ofdetermining whether a human face is present in an input image, and mayinclude or is preferably used in combination with determining a positionand/or other features, properties, parameters or values of parameters ofthe face within the input image.

“Image-enhancement” or “image correction” involves the art of modifyinga digital image to improve its quality or according to another selectedmanual or automatic input criteria. A “global” modification is one thatis applied to an entire image or substantially the entire image, while a“selective” modification is applied differently to different portions ofthe image or to only a selected portion of the image.

A “pixel” is a picture element or a basic unit of the composition of adigital image or any of the small discrete elements that togetherconstitute an image.

A “digitally-captured image” includes an image that is digitally locatedand held in a detector, preferably of a portable digital camera or otherdigital image acquisition device.

A “digitally-acquired image” includes an image that is digitallyrecorded in a permanent file and/or preserved in a more or lesspermanent digital form.

“A digitally-detected image” is an image comprising digitally detectedelectromagnetic waves.

“Classifiers” are generally reference parameters selectively orautomatically correlated or calibrated to some framework or absolutereference criteria. For example, one or more orientation classifiers ina 2-dimensional image may be configured according to a proper and/orselected orientation of a detected face within a digital image. Suchclassifiers may be calibrated or correlated with a detected facialorientation such that an overall digital image containing a face may beoriented according to these calibrated or correlated classifiers.

Classifiers may be statistical or absolute: Statistical classifiersassign a class ω_(i) so that given a pattern ŷ, the most probableP(ω_(i)|ŷ) is the largest. In many cases, it is not desired to actuallycalculate P(ω_(i)|ŷ), but rather to find (i) so that ω_(i) will providethe largest P(ω_(i)|ŷ). The accuracy of a statistical classifiergenerally depends on the quality of training data and of the algorithmused for classification. The selected populations of pixels used fortraining should be statistically significant. This means that a minimumnumber of observations are generally required to characterize aparticular site to some selected or acceptable threshold level of error.

FIG. 2 a and FIG. 2 b illustrate in a graphical form non-exhaustiveexamples of classifiers. Objects 210, 212, and 214 in FIG. 2 a representa simple ellipse classifier, in varying sizes. FIG. 2 b illustrates acomplex classifier of a face, which is made of simpler classifiers. Inthis case, the mouth, 224 and the eyes 226, 228 correspond to ellipseclassifiers 210 and 214 as defined in FIG. 2 a.

The classifiers may not necessarily be only of certain shape. Morecomplex classifiers can be of a more abstract physical nature.Alternatively, a classifier can be of color data. For example, a colorclassifier may be a classifier with higher content of blue towards thetop and higher content of green or brown towards the bottom.

An “image orientation” is a rotational position of an image relative toa selected or permanent coordinate or coordinate system that may itselfbe determined relative to an absolute spatial system, such as the earth,or a system determined or selected within a frame of a digital image.Generally herein, an image orientation is identified relative to anorientation of one or more classifiers, such as the ellipticalclassifiers illustrated at 2 a-2 b, 3 b and 4 a-4 b.

As another example, an image orientation may identified relative to ahorizontal/vertical system, such as illustrated in FIG. 3 a. The image310 may be rotated relative to this coordinate system or to anorientation of one or more elliptical classifiers by 90° counterclockwise 320 or clock wise 330. A fourth orientation 340 is a 180°degree rotation which is also illustrated in FIG. 3 a. For mostpractical reasons, a 180 degree orientation is typically not a desiredor viable situation for hand held pictures. However, technically andtheoretically, the up-side-down orientation can be included in thealgorithm. Rotational positions may be defined relative to absolute orimage-based coordinates, and rotations of the image and/or of theclassifiers may be of arbitrary angular extent, e.g., 1° or finer, 5°,10°, 15°, 30°, 45°, or others, may be selected in accordance withembodiments of the invention.

Classifier orientation is illustrated in FIG. 3 b. The classifiers ofFIG. 3 b are oriented in three orientations corresponding to the imageorientations shown. Object 360 represents a “correctly” oriented image,as selected or built-in to the digital system, block 350 represents acounter clockwise orientation, and block 370 represents a clockwiseorientation. A “correct” orientation may be determined based on acombined level of match of multiple classifiers and/or on relativepositions of the classifiers once matched to their respective facialregions. These regions may include the two eyes and mouth of a detectedface, and may also include an outline of a person's head or entire face.The arrow labeled “N” in the example of FIG. 3 b points in a directionthat is selected or determined to be the “correct” vertical axis of theimage. The orientations illustrated at FIG. 3 b correspond toillustrative images 310, 320 and 330 in FIG. 3 a.

“Matching image classifiers to images” involves correlating or assigningclassifier constructs to actual digital images or portions orsub-samplings of digital images. Such matching is illustrated at FIGS. 4a and 4 b. According to FIG. 4 a different sized ellipses, as alreadydescribed as being examples of classifiers, e.g., ellipses 210, 212 and214 of FIG. 2 a, are matched to various objects, e.g., eyes and mouthregions, in facial images. The matching is preferably performed fordifferent image and/or facial region orientations, e.g., 400 and 410 ofFIG. 4 a, to determine a correct or selected orientation of the digitalimage.

A correctly oriented ellipse may, however, match different objects intwo orientations of an image or may match different objects than desiredin images regardless of orientation. Referring to FIG. 4 a, e.g.,ellipse 214 matches correctly the lips 414 in image 410 but also thenose bridge 404 when the image is “incorrectly” oriented or not in thedesired orientation. The smaller ellipse 410 matches both instances ofeyes 412 and 413 in the correctly oriented image 410. This exampleillustrates an instance wherein it is not sufficient to use a singleclassifier, as there may be cases of false detection. This illustratesan advantage of the process of determining the orientation of facesbased on statistical classifiers in accordance with a preferredembodiment of the present invention.

Concatenation is generally used herein to describe a technique whereinclassifiers, objects, axes, or parameters are connected, linked,correlated, matched, compared or otherwise related according to aselected or built-in set of criteria, and/or to describe sequentialperformance of operation or processes in methods in accordance withembodiments of the invention. For example, an image may be determined tobe properly aligned when axes of a pair of eye ellipses are determinedto be collinear or the image is oriented or re-oriented such that theyare made to be collinear, or when an image and/or classifiers arerotated to cause the foci of eye ellipses to form an isosceles trianglewith a center of a mouth ellipse, etc.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments are described below including methods and devicesfor providing or suggesting options for determining image orientationautomatically using face detection. A preferred embodiment includes animage processing application whether implemented in software or infirmware, as part of the image capture process, such as in a digitalcamera, or as part of post processing, such as a desktop, in the cameraas a post processing background process or on a server application. Thissystem receives images in digital form, where the images can betranslated into a grid representation including multiple pixels.

The preferred embodiment describes a method of re-using face detectioninformation in different orientations of the image to determine theorientation with the highest probability to be the correct one. Theinformation regarding the location and size of faces in an image assistin determining correct orientation.

Advantages of the preferred embodiments include the ability toautomatically perform or suggest or assist in the determination of thecorrect orientation of an image. Another advantage is that theprocessing may be automatically performed and/or suggested based on thisinformation. Such automatic processing is fast enough and efficientenough to handle multiple images in close to real time, or be used for asingle image as part of the image processing in the acquisition device.Many advantageous techniques are provided in accordance with preferredand alternative embodiments set forth herein. For example, this methodof detection the image orientation can be combined with other methods offace detection, thus improving the functionality, and re-purposing theprocess for future applications.

Two or more methods of detecting faces in different orientations may becombined to achieve better accuracy and parameters of a single algorithmmay be concatenated into a single parameter. The digital image may betransformed to speed up the process, such as subsampling or reducing thecolor depth. The digital image may be transformed to enhance theaccuracy such as preprocessing stage for improving the color balance,exposure or sharpness. The digital image may post processed to enhancethe accuracy such as removal of false positives as a post processingprocess, based on parameters and criteria outside of the face detectionalgorithm. Values of orientation may be adjusted such that a rotationvalue for the digital image is determined. This technique may beimplemented for supporting arbitrary rotation or fixed interval rotationsuch as 90 degree rotation.

The method may be performed within any digital image capture device,which as, but not limited to digital still camera, phone handset withbuilt in camera, web camera or digital video camera. Determining whichof the sub-group of pixels belong to which of the group of face pixelsmay be performed. The determining of the initial values of one or moreparameters of pixels may be calculated based on the spatial orientationof the one or more sub-groups that correspond to one or more facialfeatures. The spatial orientation of the one or more sub-groups thatcorrespond to one or more facial features may be calculated based on anaxis of an ellipse fit to the sub-group. The adjusted values of pixelswithin the digital image may be rounded to a closest multiple of 90degrees. The initial values may be adjusted to adjusted values forreorienting the image to an adjusted orientation. The one or more facialfeatures may include an eye, two eyes, two eyes and a mouth, an eye, amouth, hairline, ears, nostrils, nose bridge, eyebrows or a nose, orcombinations thereof. On a more abstract level the features used for thedetection of objects in general in the image, or faces specifically maybe determined through a mathematical classifiers that are either deducedvia a learning process or inserted into the system. One example of suchclassifiers are described by Viola Jones in the paper incorporatedherein by reference. Other classifiers can be the eigenfaces, which arethe basis functions that define images with faces.

Each of the methods provided are preferably implemented within softwareand/or firmware either in the camera or with external processingequipment. The software may also be downloaded into the camera or imageprocessing equipment. In this sense, one or more processor readablestorage devices having processor readable code embodied thereon areprovided. The processor readable code programs one or more processors toperform any of the above or below described methods.

FIG. 1 a illustrates a process flow according to a preferred embodiment.The input is an image which can come from various sources. According tothis exemplary procedure, an image may be opened by a software, firmwareor other program application in block 102. The process may be initiatedwhen a photographer takes a picture at block 103, or as an automaticbackground process for an application or acquisition device at block104.

The classifiers are preferably pre-determined for the specific imageclassification. A detailed description of the learning process to createthe appropriate classifiers can be found in the paper by Viola and Jonesthat has been cited and incorporated by reference hereinabove. Theclassifiers are loaded, at step 108, into the application.

The image is preferably rotated into three orientations at block 110.Only two or more than three orientation may alternatively be used: Thepreferred orientations are counter clockwise 112, no rotation 114 andclockwise, 116. Note that a fourth orientation which is the upside down118 is technically and theoretically plausible but is not preferred dueto the statistical improbability of such images. One or more imagesrotated by 1°, or a few seconds or minutes, or by 3° or 45°, or anarbitrary amount, may also be used.

The three images are then provided to the face detection software atblock 120 and the results are analyzed at block 130. The image with thehighest probability of detection of faces is determined at block 140 tobe most likely the one with the right orientation.

FIG. 1 b is an alternative embodiment, wherein the classifiers arerotated as opposed to the images. By doing so, even if the results aresimilar, the execution time is highly optimized because the process ispreferably not repeated over three images, and is instead performed overonly a single image with two, three or more times the number ofclassifiers. Preferably, two sets of rotated classifiers are used alongwith an unrotated set. According to FIG. 1 b, the classifiers loaded atblock 108 are rotated at block 160 to create counter clockwiseclassifiers 162, original classifiers 164 and clockwise classifiers 166.As explained above, if desired, a fourth set of classifiers 168 of 180degree rotation can be generated, and in fact, any number of classifiersets may be generated according to rotations of arbitrary or selectedamounts in accordance with alternative embodiments of this invention. Ina third embodiment, both the image and the classifiers may be rotated.

The classifiers are preferably combined into a single set of classifiersat block 170. The concatenation of the classifiers is preferablyperformed in such a manner that an false eliminating process would stillbe optimized. Note that these operations need not be executed at thetime of analysis, but can be prepared prior to running the process on animage, as a preparatory step. Also note that the two approaches may becombined, where some classifiers may or may not be used depending on theresults of the previous classifies. It may be possible to merge thepreferred three sets, or an arbitrary number of two or more sets, ofrotated classifiers.

Part-way through, the common classifiers one would branch into thespecific classifiers for each orientation. This would speed up thealgorithm because the first part of the classification would be commonto the three orientations.

In another embodiment, where the classifier set contains rotationinvariant classifiers it is possible to reduce the number of classifierswhich must be applied to an image from 3N to 3N-2M where N is the numberof classifiers in the original classifier set and M is the number ofrotation invariant classifiers. The image is then prepared at block 158to run the face detection algorithm at block 122. Such preparationvaries on the algorithm and can include different operations such asconverting the image format, the color depth, the pixel representationetc. In some cases the image is converted, such as described by Violaand Jones, to form a pixel based representation from an integral one. Inother cases the image may be subsampled to reduce computation, convertedto a gray scale representation, or various image enhancement algorithmssuch as edge enhancement, sharpening, blurring, noise reduction etc. maybe applied to the image. Numerous operations on the image in preparationmay also be concatenated. The face detection algorithm is run once onthe image at block 122, using the multiple set of classifiers 170. Theresults are then collated at block 128, according to each of the threeorientations of the preferred classifier set. The number of survivingface regions for each orientation of the classifier set are nextcompared at block 130. The orientation with the highest number ofsurviving face regions is determined at block 140—to be the one with thehighest likelihood orientation.

In an additional embodiment, the algorithm handles may handle cases offalse detection of faces. The problem occurs where in some cases regionsthat are not faces are marked as potential faces. In such cases, it isnot enough to count the occurrence of faces, but the probability offalse detection and missed faces needs to be accounted for.

Such algorithm which is an expansion of Block 140 of FIGS. 1 a and 1 bis described with reference to the flow diagram illustrated at FIG. 1 c:

-   -   Some representations used in the algorithm include the        following:    -   DIR: the most populated direction and the maximal number of        detected faces on any direction (DIR is on of CCW, O, CW).    -   M: the minimal non-zero number of detected faces on any        direction (m).    -   NZ: the number of populated directions (directions for which we        have detection).    -   N: the total number of detected faces.    -   CONST: probability factor, which is based on empirical results        can be from 0.6 to 0.9.    -   An exemplary orientation decision may be determined as follows:    -   1410 NZ==0, no faces are found in the image, image orientation        is, 1490 DEFAULT (keep image as it is)    -   1420 NZ==1 there is as single face in the image, image        orientation is DIR    -   1421 If NZ>1    -   1430 if NZ*m/N<=CONST there are multiple faces, multiple        orientations with a predominant orientation, image orientation        is Dir    -   Therefore 1431 NZ*m/N>CONST there are multiple faces, multiple        orientations without a predominant orientation, image        orientation is, 1490 DEFAULT (no decision can be taken). (keep        image as it is)

Automatic Orientation detection and in particular orientation detectionusing faces, particularly for digital image processing applicationsaccording to preferred and alternative embodiments set forth herein, arefurther advantageous in accordance with various modifications of thesystems and methods of the above description as may be understood bythose skilled in the art, as set forth in the references cited andincorporated by reference herein and as may be otherwise describedbelow.

For example, an apparatus according to another embodiment may beprovided for detection and recognition of specific features in an imageusing an eigenvector approach to face detection (see, e.g., U.S. Pat.No. 5,710,833 to Moghaddam et al., incorporated by reference).Additional eigenvectors may be used in addition to or alternatively tothe principal eigenvector components, e.g., all eigenvectors may beused. The use of all eigenvectors may be intended to increase theaccuracy of the apparatus to detect complex multi-featured objects. Sucheigenvectors are orientation sensitive, a feature that can be utilizedaccording to this invention.

Faces may be detected in complex visual scenes and/or in a neuralnetwork based face detection system, particularly for digital imageprocessing in accordance with preferred or alternative embodimentsherein (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,397 to Baluja & Rowley; and“Neural Network-Based Face Detection,” IEEE Transactions on PatternAnalysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. 20, No. 1, pages 23-28, January1998 by the same authors, each reference being hereby incorporated byreference. An image may be rotated prior to the application of theneural network analysis in order to optimize the success rate of theneural-network based detection (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,397,incorporated by reference). This technique is particularly advantageouswhen faces are oriented vertically. Face detection in accordance withpreferred and alternative embodiments, and which are particularlyadvantageous when a complex background is involved, may use one or moreof skin color detection, spanning tree minimization and/or heuristicelimination of false positives (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,113 toAbdel-Mottaleb et al., incorporated by reference). Alternatively,according to this invention, the neural-network classifiers may berotated, to determine the match based the image orientation, asdescribed by this invention.

In the context of automatic image rotation, and determining imageorientation, an embodiment including electrical, software and/orfirmware components that detect blue sky within images may be included(see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,504,951 to Luo et al., incorporated byreference) This feature allows image orientation to be determined oncethe blue-sky region(s) are located and analyzed in an image. Inaccordance with an alternative embodiment, other image aspects are alsoused in combination with blue sky detection and analysis, and inparticular the existence of facial regions in the image, to determinethe correct orientation of an image. In accordance with this invention,such filters, including color based filters with specific orientationcharacteristics to them can be introduced into the system as addedclassifiers, this expanding the scope of the invention form facedetection to generic automatic orientation detection using generic imageobject analysis.

Another embodiment includes scene recognition method and a system usingbrightness and ranging mapping (see, e.g., US published patentapplication 2001/0031142 to Whiteside, incorporated by reference).Auto-ranging and/or brightness measurement may be used as orientationspecific features for this invention.

In further preferred and alternative embodiments, the orientation may besuggested to a user in the acquisition device after the image has beenacquired or captured by a camera (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,154 toParulski et al., incorporated by reference). According to theseembodiments, a user may confirm the new orientation before saving apicture or before deciding to re-save or delete the picture. The usermay choose to re-take a picture using different settings on the camera.Suggestion for improvements may be made by the camera user-interface.

In preferred embodiments herein, automatically or semi-automaticallyimproving the appearance of faces in images based on automaticallyand/or manually detecting such facial images in the digital image is anadvantageous feature (see also US published patent application20020172419, to Lin et al., incorporated by reference) Lightnesscontrast and color level modification of an image may be performed toproduce better results. Moreover, using such information for detectingorientation, may provide assistance as part of an in-camera acquisitionprocess to perform other face related operations such as composition ora slide show as may be recited at U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/608,772, filed Jun. 26, 2003, hereby incorporated by reference.

Based on the detection of the correct orientation, Image enhancementaccording to preferred and alternative embodiment herein may be appliedto a face region or face regions only, or the enhancement may be appliedto the entire image, or selective and distinct corrections may beapplied to both background and foreground regions, particularly facialregions, based on knowledge of the presence of faces in the image and/orother image regions such as blue sky or other detectable features.

In further embodiments, various schemes may be used for selecting anarea or areas of interest from an electronically captured image, mostpreferably areas including faces or facial regions (see also UK patentapplication number GB0031423.7 entitled “automatic cropping ofelectronic images”, incorporated by reference). Regions of interest maybe automatically or semi-automatically selected within an image inresponse to a selection signal (see, e.g., US published patentapplication 2003/0025812, incorporated by reference).

While an exemplary drawings and specific embodiments of the presentinvention have been described and illustrated, it is to be understoodthat that the scope of the present invention is not to be limited to theparticular embodiments discussed. Thus, the embodiments shall beregarded as illustrative rather than restrictive, and it should beunderstood that variations may be made in those embodiments by workersskilled in the arts without departing from the scope of the presentinvention as set forth in the claims that follow and their structuraland functional equivalents.

In addition, in methods that may be performed according to preferredembodiments herein, the operations have been described in selectedtypographical sequences. However, the sequences have been selected andso ordered for typographical convenience and are not intended to implyany particular order for performing the operations, unless a particularordering is expressly provided or understood by those skilled in the artas being necessary.

1. A method of detecting an orientation of a main digital image usingstatistical classifier techniques, comprising: using a processor;generating in-camera, capturing or otherwise obtaining in-camera acollection of low resolution images including said face; tracking saidface within said collection of low resolution images; acquiring a maindigital image; applying a set of face detection classifiers to at leastone image of the collection of low resolution images in a firstorientation; determining a first level of match between a same orsubsequent image of the collection of low resolution images at saidfirst orientation and said classifiers; rotating said same or subsequentimage to a second orientation to obtain a rotated image, applying theclassifiers to said rotated image at said second orientation;determining a second level of match between said rotated image at saidsecond orientation and said classifiers; comparing said first and secondlevels of match between said classifiers and said same or subsequentimage and between said classifiers and said rotated image, respectively;and determining which of the first orientation and the secondorientations has a greater probability of being a correct orientationbased on which of the first and second levels of match, respectively,comprises a higher level of match.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising, prior to applying said classifiers to said same orsubsequent image, applying color conversion, edge enhancement, blurring,sharpening, tone reproduction correction, exposure correction, grayscale transformation, region segmentation, or cropping, or combinationsthereof.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein said classifiers compriseelliptical classifiers.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein saidelliptical classifiers are oriented at known orientations.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein said classifiers correspond to regions of a detectedface.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein said regions include an eye, twoeyes, a nose, a mouth, or an entire face, or combinations thereof.
 7. Amethod of detecting an orientation of a main digital image usingstatistical classifier techniques comprising: using a processor;generating in-camera, capturing or otherwise obtaining in-camera acollection of low resolution images including said face; tracking saidface within said collection of low resolution images; acquiring a maindigital image; applying a set of face detection classifiers to at leastone image of the collection of low resolution images in a firstorientation; determining a first level of match between a same orsubsequent image of the collection of low resolution images at saidfirst orientation and said classifiers; rotating said set of classifiersa first predetermined amount, applying the classifiers rotated saidfirst amount to said same or subsequent image at said first orientation,and determining a second level of match between said same or subsequentimage at said first orientation and said classifiers rotated said firstamount; comparing said first and second levels of match between saidclassifiers and said digital image and between said rotated classifiersand said same or subsequent image, respectively; and determining whichof the first and second levels of match, respectively, comprises ahigher level of match in order to determine whether said firstorientation is a correct orientation of said main digital image.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, further comprising, prior to applying saidclassifiers to said same or subsequent image, applying color conversion,edge enhancement, blurring, sharpening, tone reproduction correction,exposure correction, gray scale transformation, region segmentation, orcropping, or combinations thereof.
 9. The method of claim 7, whereinsaid classifiers comprise elliptical classifiers.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein said elliptical classifiers are initially oriented atknown orientations and, when rotated by said first and second amounts,are rotated to different known orientations.
 11. The method of claim 7,wherein said classifiers correspond to regions of a detected face. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein said regions include an eye, two eyes, anose, a mouth, or an entire face, or combinations thereof.
 13. One ormore non-transitory computer readable storage devices having processorreadable code embodied thereon, said processor readable code forprogramming one or more processors to perform a method of detecting anorientation of a main digital image using statistical classifiertechniques, the method comprising: using a processor; generatingin-camera, capturing or otherwise obtaining in-camera a collection oflow resolution images including said face; tracking said face withinsaid collection of low resolution images; acquiring a main digitalimage; applying a set of face detection classifiers to at least oneimage of the collection of low resolution images in a first orientation;determining a first level of match between a same or subsequent image ofthe collection of low resolution images at said first orientation andsaid classifiers; rotating said same or subsequent image to a secondorientation to obtain a rotated image, applying the classifiers to saidrotated image at said second orientation, and determining a second levelof match between said rotated image at said second orientation and saidclassifiers; comparing said first and second levels of match betweensaid classifiers and said same or subsequent image and between saidclassifiers and said rotated image, respectively; and determining whichof the first orientation and the second orientations has a greaterprobability of being a correct orientation based on which of the firstand second levels of match, respectively, comprises a higher level ofmatch.
 14. The one or more storage devices of claim 13, wherein themethod further comprises, prior to applying said classifiers to saidsame or subsequent image, applying color conversion, edge enhancement,blurring, sharpening, tone reproduction correction, exposure correction,gray scale transformation, region segmentation, or cropping, orcombinations thereof.
 15. The one or more storage devices of claim 13,wherein said classifiers comprise elliptical classifiers.
 16. The one ormore storage devices of claim 15, wherein said elliptical classifiersare oriented at known orientations.
 17. The one or more storage devicesof claim 13, wherein said classifiers correspond to regions of adetected face.
 18. The one or more storage devices of claim 17, whereinsaid regions include an eye, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, or an entireface, or combinations thereof.
 19. One or more non-transitory computerreadable storage devices having processor readable code embodiedthereon, said processor readable code for programming one or moreprocessors to perform a method of detecting an orientation of a maindigital image using statistical classifier techniques, the methodcomprising: using a processor; generating in-camera, capturing orotherwise obtaining in-camera a collection of low resolution imagesincluding said face; tracking said face within said collection of lowresolution images; acquiring a main digital image; applying a set offace detection classifiers to at least one image of the collection oflow resolution images in a first orientation; determining a first levelof match between a same or subsequent image of the collection of lowresolution images at said first orientation and said classifiers;rotating said set of classifiers a first predetermined amount, applyingthe classifiers rotated said first amount to said same or subsequentimage at said first orientation, and determining a second level of matchbetween said same or subsequent image at said first orientation and saidclassifiers rotated said first amount; comparing said first and secondlevels of match between said classifiers and said digital image andbetween said rotated classifiers and said same or subsequent image,respectively; and determining which of the first and second levels ofmatch, respectively, comprises a higher level of match in order todetermine whether said first orientation is a correct orientation ofsaid main digital image.
 20. The one or more storage devices of claim19, wherein the method further comprises, prior to applying saidclassifiers to said same or subsequent image, applying color conversion,edge enhancement, blurring, sharpening, tone reproduction correction,exposure correction, gray scale transformation, region segmentation, orcropping, or combinations thereof.
 21. The one or more storage devicesof claim 19, wherein said classifiers comprise elliptical classifiers.22. The one or more storage devices of claim 21, wherein said ellipticalclassifiers are initially oriented at known orientations and, whenrotated by said first and second amounts, are rotated to different knownorientations.
 23. The one or more storage devices of claim 19, whereinsaid classifiers correspond to regions of a detected face.
 24. The oneor more storage devices of claim 23, wherein said regions include aneye, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, or an entire face, or combinationsthereof.
 25. A portable digital camera, comprising: one or more opticsand a sensor for acquiring a digital image, a processor, and one or moreprocessor readable storage devices having processor readable codeembodied thereon for programming the processor to perform a method ofdetecting an orientation of a main digital image using statisticalclassifier techniques, wherein the method comprises: using a processor;generating in-camera, capturing or otherwise obtaining in-camera acollection of low resolution images including said face; tracking saidface within said collection of low resolution images; acquiring a maindigital image; applying a set of face detection classifiers to at leastone image of the collection of low resolution images in a firstorientation; determining a first level of match between a same orsubsequent image of the collection of low resolution images at saidfirst orientation and said classifiers; rotating said same or subsequentimage to a second orientation to obtain a rotated image, applying theclassifiers to said rotated image at said second orientation, anddetermining a second level of match between said rotated image at saidsecond orientation and said classifiers; comparing said first and secondlevels of match between said classifiers and said same or subsequentimage and between said classifiers and said rotated image, respectively;and determining which of the first orientation and the secondorientations has a greater probability of being a correct orientationbased on which of the first and second levels of match, respectively,comprises a higher level of match.
 26. The camera of claim 25, whereinthe method further comprises, prior to applying said classifiers to saidsame or subsequent image, applying color conversion, edge enhancement,blurring, sharpening, tone reproduction correction, exposure correction,gray scale transformation, region segmentation, or cropping, orcombinations thereof.
 27. The camera of claim 25, wherein saidclassifiers comprise elliptical classifiers.
 28. The camera of claim 27,wherein said elliptical classifiers are oriented at known orientations.29. The camera of claim 25, wherein said classifiers correspond toregions of a detected face.
 30. The camera of claim 29, wherein saidregions include an eye, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, or an entire face, orcombinations thereof.
 31. A portable digital camera, comprising: one ormore optics and a sensor for acquiring a digital image, a processor, andone or more processor readable storage devices having processor readablecode embodied thereon for programming the processor to perform a methodof detecting an orientation of a main digital image using statisticalclassifier techniques, wherein the method comprises: using a processor;generating in-camera, capturing or otherwise obtaining in-camera acollection of low resolution images including said face; tracking saidface within said collection of low resolution images; acquiring a maindigital image; applying a set of face detection classifiers to at leastone image of the collection of low resolution images in a firstorientation; determining a first level of match between a same orsubsequent image of the collection of low resolution images at saidfirst orientation and said classifiers; rotating said set of classifiersa first predetermined amount, applying the classifiers rotated saidfirst amount to said same or subsequent image at said first orientation,and determining a second level of match between said same or subsequentimage at said first orientation and said classifiers rotated said firstamount; comparing said first and second levels of match between saidclassifiers and said digital image and between said rotated classifiersand said same or subsequent image, respectively; and determining whichof the first and second levels of match, respectively, comprises ahigher level of match in order to determine whether said firstorientation is a correct orientation of said main digital image.
 32. Thecamera of claim 31, wherein the method further comprises, prior toapplying said classifiers to said same or subsequent image, applyingcolor conversion, edge enhancement, blurring, sharpening, tonereproduction correction, exposure correction, gray scale transformation,region segmentation, or cropping, or combinations thereof.
 33. Thecamera of claim 31, wherein said classifiers comprise ellipticalclassifiers.
 34. The camera of claim 33, wherein said ellipticalclassifiers are initially oriented at known orientations and, whenrotated by said first and second amounts, are rotated to different knownorientations.
 35. The camera of claim 31, wherein said classifierscorrespond to regions of a detected face.
 36. The camera of claim 35,wherein said regions include an eye, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, or anentire face, or combinations thereof.